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The Voices Of Thyroid Disease

I — uh — got so carried away with the sudden thyku inspiration that I neglected to post any other supporting material with those seventeen syllables.

Far be it from me to stick with the usual perspective on things. The human experience is enriched when we open our eyes in other directions. And as I was sitting here on a very quiet, and relaxing Sunday afternoon — trapped in the air conditioning by the very oppressive heat wave outside — I ambled over to the Dear Thyroid website.

And what I saw were more people angry with their thyroids. (Understandably so.) And my mind thought “Well, what would Thyroid say in its defense?” I do believe Thyroid is as much a victim as the rest of the body; it didn’t choose to go awry. It’s genetic programming is to operate optimally. Something else damaged it, the same way we feel our bodies and minds have been damaged by Thyroid.

Not all of those thykus are from Thyroid’s voice, but most are.

I should go read more letters. I seem to derive inspiration from them…

Reader Feedback

8 Responses to “The Voices Of Thyroid Disease”

I’m glad that both men and women voice their opinion here. It’s good to have both sides of the story, point of view. Also I was thinking that if “we” women feel alone with this imagine how men must feel. Is it still true that this mostly happens to women? Maybe a clue can be found here to the cure??? What do we share? Might this be worth exploring? Thanks for writing, Linny

Wow – Beautifully done Mike! I love it when we step back from our bodies and say, “wait a sec– I can’t be hatin on this here body– this is a victim too!” I’m so impressed with it… I wonder too what would happen if we started giving some love to the parts of us that were hit hardest with disease too? What would our thyroids want to hear if someone were healing it too.

Big stuff. Good stuff. Well done!! You are an amazingly insightful and writerly soul!

Mike maybe we should start thinking in reverse and start loving our thyroids, I know mine wasn’t to blame I never hated it. I grieved for the loss when it was gone a big part of my life. It wasn’t the thyroid but the antibodies that mistook it for the enemy and attacked an innocent gland that was just doing it’s job,

What I hate most about it all is the poor substitute and lack of knowledge by the medical profession. Levothyroxine can never take the place of the real thing and that is why most of us still suffer we need that happy balance of FT3 and FT4 to be able to function anywhere near to what we did before our thyroids were attacked we need to change life styles to accommodate the poor replacement. It’s like owning a Rolls Royce and ending up with a Robin Reliant no comparison.

Mike, thank you for sharing even more of yourself. I love your perspective. What if we did all take a step back and take the time to understand what it really means to love our bodies? Would our stories change? Would our approach to wellness change? Maybe, maybe not, but you’ve given me much to think about.

Mike,
You should read more letters. They are inspirational and thought provoking. I am working my way through as many as I can. They have helped me to understand that I am not alone, the anger and frustration is real, and the different perspectives. Six months ago, I knew of “thyroid” but not about it. Now, of course, I wish I didn’t have to know, but knowledge and understanding brings power.

Mike – THANK YOU!!! applaud.applaud! I feel the same way. Although I hate what a non-functioning thyroid has caused, I apologize to my thyroid everyday for not hearing what it tried to tell me for so many years. I am so grateful I still have mine, although at this point it obviously is not functioning, but I owe it to my thyroid and myself to treat us as well as I can now in hopes of averting any further autoimmune illnesses, and to continue to improve my health and life.

@Linny: 10.5 years into Thyroid disease and I’m still the only male I know with it.

@Everyone Else: I once saw a movie starring Marlee Matlin called “What the Bleep Do We Know?” (Which turns out not to actually have been a movie, or a documentary, but that’s another story). Anyway, it had some interesting points about positive thinking, and one of them was if you hate your body it will hate you, but if you love your body it will love you. And, I think this is true.